DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-11) in the reply filed on February 10, 2026 is acknowledged. Thus, claims 12-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 12,512,539 to Guen or in view U.S. Patent 11,251,497 to Goldin et al.
Regarding claims 1-2 and 4-8, Guen discloses a method for making a battery can (140), comprising: identifying as target capacity of an internal battery volume (inherent because the must have predetermined specification for producing a high dimensional accuracy battery see Abstract); generating a prismatic model (drawings) of the battery can (140), wherein the battery can includes a first portion having a first contour and a second portion having a second contour (see Fig. 3E); producing a first portion blank and a second portion blank, using a first manufacturing process (punching, see Fig. 3B); modifying (bending/shaping) the first portion blank and the second portion blank, using a second manufacturing process (folding by die/mold), to create the first contour and the second contour (see Fig. 3C); joining the first portion having the first contour and the second portion having the second contour, using a third manufacturing process (welding by laser welding, see Col. 4, lines 14-18 create seam welding as shown in Fig. 3E); and inspecting the battery can to verify the joining between the first portion and the second portion and the contour portion (inherent since visual inspection are always required in manufacture high quality product).
If Applicant disagrees to the position of the Examiner regarding the inherency of the claimed limitation. Goldin et al disclose a method of manufacturing a prismatic battery including inspecting the assembling of the two welding case of the battery (see Fig. 6, step 545) for quality control. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Guen by utilizing the step of inspecting the welding join between the first portion and second portion as taught by Goldin et al for quality assurance of a product.
Regarding claim 3, Goldin et al disclose the step of laser cutting process using a high precision laser cutting process to produce the first portion blank and the second portion blank (see Col. 21, lines 47-49).
Regarding claims 9-10, Guen discloses the safety vent (153) in the battery can (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 11, Guen discloses applying an insulation coating on one or more of an inside surface, an outside surface and a seam of the battery can (see Col. 4, lines 43-47).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Prior art cited for their general teaching of manufacturing a prismatic cell.
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/DN/ /DONGHAI D NGUYEN/April 4, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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